I'm sharing my not-so-great experience with this driving school, and it's not a pretty one.

I chose it on a whim, unfortunately. I skimmed some positive reviews and went with it. The course fee seemed average, but that was the only positive thing I can say about it.

Offices

I visited three of their offices - Big Sadovaya St 61, Voroshilovsky Ave 91, and Lenin Ave 83. The staff were friendly, polite, and helpful. They answered my questions thoroughly and kept in touch when needed.

Unfortunately, on my first visit, they promised a lot of practical experience, but it didn't quite live up to expectations.

Theory Online

I opted for online theory classes. They gave me a login and password, and I started studying from home.

I found online theory classes quite comfortable - I'd recommend them. You can study from home, take breaks when needed, and manage your time. The only downside is that online theory classes only work for those who can self-organize and keep track of their schedule.

I initially took it easy, doing two classes a week. The course has 19 classes, each with 2-3 blocks and a test. With a light workload, I thought I'd finish it in two months. But I ended up completing 14 classes in the first month because I wanted to move on to practical driving lessons.

How the learning course looks.

Each class has at least two blocks - learning and tests. The learning blocks consist of four parts: road rules, illustrated road rule notes, videos, and tests.

Learning interfaceI chose video format, but you can access all formats or choose them as needed.

The videos were great - engaging, informative, and interesting. Watching them at half speed was perfectly fine. I'd give them a solid 5 out of 5.

Example video on car structureExample video on drivingStudents need to pass tests for each block and one or two tests per class. Below is an example of a failed test.

One of the challenging testsThe green squares indicate correct answers, while the red ones show incorrect ones. You need to pass the same test until you get an acceptable number of errors. In the example, two errors out of 40 questions are allowed.

Occasionally, the practice test has a lot of questions. You'll need to retake the test until you get an acceptable number of errors. Be prepared to put in the time and effort.

One of the biggest tests. Error explanationOne of the big tests was the explanation of the error. Under each question, there are comments that you can read if you want. Sometimes there are additional explanations. Example commentsSometimes the practice tests are really short. One of the shortest testsI have to admit, there were times when I found it really tough, and my focus started to slip. I'd skip the longer tests and come back to them later because getting stuck in my studies just wasn't helping. So, my progress looked like this: My gaps in the middle of my trainingYou can see the gaps in the middle where I got stuck. Practice

No intro, straight to the cons.

The instructor was late to the first class by 10 minutes. Then, almost always late by 10-15 minutes. One time, he was 40 minutes late. The classes took place in the second half of autumn and winter. I was always punctual and waited outside in the cold.The classes took place in a comfortable car instead of the one that would be provided in the MREO. Although, it was promised that different cars would be tried out with the student. Honestly, after completing the training, I couldn't even use the manual transmission - the car just had a button.Every other class ended 15-20 minutes earlier than scheduled.One time, I woke up with a fever of 38. I felt weak, nauseous, and my joints ached. I called or texted the instructor about an hour or less before the class, saying I wouldn't be able to make it because I couldn't bring down my fever - I'm not allowed to take medication, and the home remedies didn't work. The response was that since I'd given him a day's notice, the class would be cancelled without the option to reschedule. Nice.The classes were interrupted by regular breaks for the instructor's smoking and personal errands - 2-3 breaks of 10-20 minutes each. Clearly, the schedule was being disregarded.The instructor spent most of the class time watching entertainment videos, often with profanity.The classes went on for an extra month and a half because of the New Year's holidays, then I got sick for a week, and the timing just wasn't right for me.The only positives were the instructor's flexibility with errors and being able to drive in the city from the very first class. I also learned how to park. Other than that, I didn't really learn anything.

The instructor's attitude was clear from the start. About half of the classes were tough for me psychologically - it was unpleasant to attend. My family even thought I'd had a falling out with the instructor, I was so reluctant to go.

I have to say, my instructor casually mentioned that some of his students didn't pass the exam, even after two years! I somehow ignored this information. He said they're not good drivers, but I thought I was doing great. He also told me about a woman who went to driving school twice and still couldn't pass - guess it didn't work out for her.

After completing the practical sessions, I signed a paper saying I'm confident in driving a car with a trailer and have no complaints about the practical sessions. I really thought I had the skills, but it turns out I was in a hurry to sign that paper.

The Exam

The theoretical exam at the driving school was a breeze - I finished it in five minutes and aced it faster than everyone else.

Study materialsThe theoretical exam at the MREO was also a success, and I finished it first, even though I studied on my own at home.No practical exam at the driving school.

The MREO representative from my driving school was there, which was a plus, but it didn't make a huge difference compared to what I found out later.

On my first attempt at the MREO, I realized I couldn't drive around the track. It was a shock - I was confident in my skills and even argued with the inspector, but it didn't change anything.

The second exam was a failure, with a note saying I'm not skilled enough.

This, considering the fact that each attempt was accompanied by a whole day of waiting in a cramped room, plus two hours of travel time.

Practice on the Side

I did start to have some doubts about my skills after the second failure. After that, I hired instructors from outside. I didn't expect to spend so much money. I paid a decent amount to the driving school, so I guess it's okay.

But what a letdown I was in for:

I don't know how to accelerate from a standstill.I don't know how to turn correctly with a curb as a reference point.I'm setting my steering wheel at the wrong distance.I'm pressing the clutch pedal incorrectly.I'm accelerating too slowly.I'm starting from an overpass incorrectly.And many more minor issues that I'd never heard of before. This was with two different instructors on different cars, and the comments were the same. Even talking to some friends who drive confirmed my poor driving skills.

The Most Important Thing - the instructors I hired paid attention to me every minute, commented, and taught me how to drive, sharing valuable experience. The instructor from the driving school was quiet and glued to his phone 99% of the time. In three hours with an outside instructor, I learned more than in 50 hours with the driving school.

The MREO instructors also had some not-so-nice things to say about my driving school. More marketing than actual teaching, if you ask me.

Fifth Failure

I'll be honest, I was convinced that I'd finally 'given up' on the fifth attempt. But nope, I showed up for every single one, and each time I bombed due to tiny mistakes and some pretty questionable situations. To put it into perspective, the best driving skills usually come out on the first exam. Then there's a chance that the student's driving skills are decent on the second and third attempts. Without two months of practice, even an experienced driver can stall, crawl at 35 km/h, or mess something up. To get back into the swing of things, you need at least some minutes of driving. The examiner doesn't have those minutes - you're expected to drive like a pro right off the bat. I don't need to say what happens after three months without practice, four months, or more. At the very least, you lose faith in yourself and your abilities.

This driving school doesn't bring its students to success; it just leaves them hanging, having taken their hard-earned cash. It's a shame, really - a shame for the scam, for the lack of a guarantee on results.

The driving school offers to keep teaching. I mean, what else is there to do to catch up on your skills? It's basically extortion. Of course, I won't be coming back for any more lessons. You couldn't help me in 50 sessions - what's the point of continuing? My instructor assured me that I'd pass, that everything would be fine.

Promises

A free lesson where you can attend a practical and theoretical session, meet current students in your group, and see how satisfied they are with the training.

That never happened.

High pass rates on the first attempt at the GIBDD exams for our graduates. See it for yourself - attend a free trial lesson.

That's not true.

Guarantee of obtaining a driver's license

We offer a guarantee on training, and our graduates say: 'Union of Driving Schools really teaches you, and everything went smoothly in the GIBDD exam'.

It's obvious nonsense, because I don't have a driver's license.

Verdict

I didn't get any positive results from this driving school. I still don't have my rights because I'm not skilled enough at driving. The conclusion is clear - this driving school has a proven scheme for ripping people off. Someone gets a certificate after driving for three hours, not 50. If you want to keep learning, you pay for the instructor to sit there silently while you drive their car and figure things out yourself.

Certificate I think the service was terrible. The driving school is set up to keep milking money from you for more lessons until you're blue in the face. The quality of the training is nonexistent.I Definitely Won't Be Recommending This Driving School. I recommend paying attention to negative reviews - they're more likely to be true. My mistake was reading the positive reviews and blindly trusting the school's good intentions. Naive. I wanted to believe it would be better, but in the end, I ended up losing money. It's a lesson learned - don't be too nice or trusting, be blunt and aggressive if necessary. Otherwise, the outcome of your wasted money will be pretty sad. Also, make sure to study negative reviews instead of just reading the paid-for positive ones.

I'll be honest, a comfortable theory and friendly instructors won't cut it when it comes to passing the driving test. The real deal is driving itself, and let me tell you, this place has its fair share of issues.

I'm giving it a single star with a clear conscience. I'd never recommend this driving school to anyone, and I'll actively discourage people from choosing SOYUZ AUTO SCHOOL - go with any other driving school instead.

For the driving school reps out there, feel free to reach out to me if you want to provide a quality service that's worth the money. As it stands, my review accurately reflects the reality. The results of your training are negative, according to both independent experts and MREO GIBDD inspectors.